FILE - In thus April 23, 2015 file photo, flags flutter in the breeze outside of the Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham, Texas. A supplier of cookie dough that Blue Bell Creameries is blaming for a possible listeria contamination of some of its ice cream products says its product tested negative for the pathogen before being sent to the Texas-based company. In a statement Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, Iowa-based Aspen Hills said the "positive listeria results were obtained by Blue Bell only after our product had been in their control for almost two months." (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File) less

FILE - In thus April 23, 2015 file photo, flags flutter in the breeze outside of the Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham, Texas. A supplier of cookie dough that Blue Bell Creameries is blaming for a possible ... more

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, MBR

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, MBR

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FILE - In thus April 23, 2015 file photo, flags flutter in the breeze outside of the Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham, Texas. A supplier of cookie dough that Blue Bell Creameries is blaming for a possible listeria contamination of some of its ice cream products says its product tested negative for the pathogen before being sent to the Texas-based company. In a statement Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, Iowa-based Aspen Hills said the "positive listeria results were obtained by Blue Bell only after our product had been in their control for almost two months." (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File) less

FILE - In thus April 23, 2015 file photo, flags flutter in the breeze outside of the Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham, Texas. A supplier of cookie dough that Blue Bell Creameries is blaming for a possible ... more

Blue Bell ice cream is asking federal regulators to allow it to drop costly precautions it adopted after a listeria outbreak killed three people last year.

The company now hopes to resume more conventional food safety measures used throughout the industry, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Since the outbreak in April 2015, Blue Bell has destroyed products that showed any possible indications of listeria, even if they ultimately tested free of the bacteria.

That has resulted in the unnecessary destruction of hundreds of thousands of cartons of ice cream during the past year and the loss of millions of dollars -- an additional blow to a company crippled by a sweeping recall that forced a shutdown of operations, cut sales in half and led to mass layoffs.

The company has proposed eliminating that precaution and shifting to a testing approach that calls for product destruction only upon confirmation of contamination, according to records obtained through the federal Freedom of Information Act. Records show that privately held Blue Bell has worked for months with an outside laboratory to develop a testing procedure that would meet requirements of the Food and Drug Administration, prevent future outbreaks and help it regain market share and financial stability.

"Given the extent of the 2015 company-wide recall, it was reasonable for Blue Bell to begin with an extra cautious approach," Joseph Levitt, an attorney for Blue Bell, wrote to the FDA. "But it is now time to transition to the industry norm, having established they have an effective Listeria prevention program in each of its three facilities."